96: Chapter 96 Entering the Tiger's Den Again

Deep in a valley on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

The air seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, opening a fissure shimmering with silver light.

Immediately after, a green-clad figure was "spit" out, stumbling a few steps before steadying himself, looking rather disheveled.

It was none other than Ye Xiaoyao.

As soon as he landed, he turned around, anxiously looking at the rapidly shrinking spatial rift, and blurted out:

"Chaner!"

However, with a flash of silver light, the rift completely sealed and vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

The valley returned to silence, with only the rustling of wind through the treetops.

Ye Xiaoyao stood where he was, fists clenched, his eyes filled with worry.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down, taking a few deep breaths.

"Chaner's strength is not weak, and she possesses the Pure Yin Sacred Body. Although that Lu Jiajing is strong, Chaner should be safe enough to protect herself."

He muttered to himself, as if trying to convince himself.

"Besides... Shuanger seems to have some old friendship with that Lu Jiajing. For Shuanger's sake, she shouldn't deal a fatal blow to Chaner."

Rational analysis slightly soothed his anxious heart.

He knew that being anxious now was useless; the Minor Teleportation Talisman was a one-way random transmission. He had no idea where he had been sent, let alone how to return.

"First, I must figure out where this is, then find a way to reunite with Chaner."

Ye Xiaoyao steadied his mind, temporarily suppressing his worry, and scanned his surroundings.

The valley was densely vegetated with towering ancient trees.

The air was filled with a faint scent of vegetation and... a lingering trace of Demonic Qi.

He identified his direction, chose the side that looked more open, and proceeded cautiously.

He hadn't gone far when the bushes nearby suddenly shook violently, accompanied by heavy, wheezing breaths.

A sturdy, boar-like Yao Beast with two huge, curved tusks charged out!

Ye Xiaoyao's eyes narrowed as he instantly judged it to be an Early Stage Tier 2 Pig Yao, with strength roughly equivalent to an Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.

But this Pig Yao was in an odd state.

It was covered in wounds, its eyes filled with terror, ignoring Ye Xiaoyao, who was close by, and just ran headlong as if fleeing for its life.

Ye Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow.

Isn't this an opportunity for training?

He backhanded his sword to draw the top-tier Magical Artifact, the cold frost sword, its blade gleaming with a pale blue cold light.

With a flick of his wrist, a sharp, icy-blue Sword Qi flew through the air, accurately slicing into the Pig Yao's hind leg.

"Awooo—!"

The Pig Yao let out a miserable howl, its forward momentum stopping abruptly as it rolled onto the ground, blood streaming from its leg, struggling to get up.

Ye Xiaoyao stepped forward quickly, his sword falling to finish off the already severely wounded Yao Beast.

He squatted down, preparing to extract the Yao Beast's inner core.

Tier 2 inner cores were of average value, but even a mosquito is meat.

Since this is training, the spoils of war naturally shouldn't be wasted.

Just as he took out his dagger, a foul wind rose again from the direction the Pig Yao had bolted from!

Two long-bodied, grey-black furred Wolf Yao with glowing green eyes walked out slowly.

They were smaller than the Pig Yao, but their aura was more ferocious; they were clearly Late Stage Tier 2, equivalent to Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The Wolf Yao scanned the dead Pig Yao on the ground, then locked onto Ye Xiaoyao, who was processing their prey, their eyes filled with fierce glares.

"Awooo—!"

"Awooo—!"

Angry wolf howls echoed through the valley.

The two Wolf Yao were clearly quite intelligent, sensing that Ye Xiaoyao was only at the Peak of the Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

Two against one, the advantage was theirs.

Without hesitation, they exerted force simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, carrying a foul wind and faint earth-yellow Demonic Qi light as they lunged at Ye Xiaoyao, Wind Blades gathering in their open maws.

"Well come!"

Ye Xiaoyao was not alarmed but delighted; he was just worrying about not having opponents to test his strength.

He stood up, the cold frost sword tracing two arcs, the icy-blue Sword Qi meeting the incoming Wind Blades.

With a few "hissing" sounds, the Wind Blades were shredded by the Sword Qi.

Ye Xiaoyao's figure moved like the wind; instead of retreating, he advanced, actively charging between the two Wolf Yao.

The cold frost sword turned into a sheet of blue light in his hands, his sword moves agile and swift, sometimes freezing and slowing the Wolf Yao's movements, other times thrusting to force them into embarrassed dodges.

He was in no rush to deal a killing blow, instead using these two Wolf Yao as whetstones, familiarizing himself with the combat style of the Yao Beasts in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

The Wolf Yao were fast, coordinated well, had sharp claws and fangs, and could even cast simple wind-attribute Spells, making them indeed more troublesome than Cultivators of the same stage.

After fighting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two Wolf Yao were spun around by him, covered in many wounds, panting, their fierce glares gradually replaced by terror.

"That's enough."

Seeing their aura had faded, Ye Xiaoyao suddenly sheathed his sword.

In the astonished gazes of the Wolf Yao, he clenched his fists, his internal Pure Yang Power roaring into motion, a layer of pale golden light emerging on the surface of his fists.

He kicked off the ground, causing the earth to sink slightly, and shot out like an arrow.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two muffled thuds sounded almost simultaneously.

With the blessing of the Pure Yang Sacred Body and the explosive physical power of the Perfection of the 6th Revolution of the Nine Revolutions Hegemon Body Art, he landed solid blows on the sides of the two Wolf Yao's heads.

The Wolf Yao didn't even have time to let out a scream; their skulls shattered, and their massive bodies collapsed to the ground, twitching twice before losing their breath.

Ye Xiaoyao shook his fists, feeling the surging sense of power, and was quite satisfied.

He then stepped forward, skillfully dissecting the three Yao Beast corpses, extracting the inner cores, and placing them in specially prepared jade boxes.

The Pig Yao's tusks, the Wolf Yao's fangs, fur, and a small amount of essence blood collected in jade bottles were also taken, sorted, and put into his Storage Pouch.

"Even a mosquito's leg is meat; I will never waste it."

He muttered to himself and continued forward.

Over the next stretch of the road, he encountered several more Tier 1 and Tier 2 Yao Beasts.

Most Tier 1 Yao Beasts fled in panic as soon as they sensed his aura from afar, and he had no interest in chasing them.

Tier 2 Yao Beasts became his main targets.

Either they attacked him and were killed in retaliation.

Or if he didn't like the look of one, such as if it was too ugly or blocking his path, he would just clear it out.

After successively killing dozens of Yao Beasts of various forms, Ye Xiaoyao basically confirmed his location.

"With such dense Yao Beasts, and their tiers generally not low... this is most likely the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range."

He looked around and let out a sigh of relief.

"My luck isn't bad; I wasn't sent to some godforsaken desert wasteland. This was originally the destination for Chaner and me."

He explored deeper into the mountain range, entering a wider valley where the Spiritual Qi felt slightly richer.

In this valley, the aura of Yao Beasts was stronger.

The number of Yao Beasts here was significantly smaller, but their individual auras were much stronger, mostly Middle to Late Stage Tier 2.

He could even occasionally sense the faint pressure of a Tier 3 Yao Beast comparable to a Core Formation Cultivator.

Ye Xiaoyao couldn't be bothered to engage in close-quarters combat with them one by one.

He pulled a thick stack of offensive Talismans from his Storage Pouch.

Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Gold Blade Talismans... all high-tier goods purchased before his departure.

"Let's try some firepower coverage."

He was enthusiastic, locking onto a few Tier 2 Yao Beasts gathered together, and raised his hand to scatter a stack of Talismans.

Rumble! Crack! Hiss!

Various lights of Spiritual Qi erupted, flames, frost, and golden light interweaving.

Those unlucky Yao Beasts didn't even have time to react before they were submerged in the violent Talisman attacks, perishing instantly.

Ye Xiaoyao followed suit and cleared a few more groups, with extremely high efficiency, though the speed at which he consumed Talismans was not slow either.

Just as he had finished processing the Materials from a few Late Stage Tier 2 Yao Beasts and was preparing to change locations.

"ROAR—!!!"

A deafening, furious tiger roar, like a thunderclap on flat ground, exploded from the depths of the dense forest to the side!

The sound waves rolled, shaking the leaves down in a flurry.

At the same time, a low, heavy Divine Thought voice, seemingly with the texture of grinding metal and stone, arrogantly rushed into Ye Xiaoyao's mind:

"Human Race junior! Who gave you the guts?! How dare you slaughter this King's subjects! You are courting death!"

Before the words had even faded, a foul wind hit his face!

A giant tiger claw phantom, the size of a tabletop and wreathed in earth-yellow Demonic Qi, tore through the air, bringing suffocating pressure as it slammed down towards Ye Xiaoyao's head.

Ye Xiaoyao's expression changed drastically; without thinking, he swung the cold frost sword with all his might, sending out two icy-blue Sword Qi auras condensed to the extreme.

"BOOM!"

The Sword Qi clashed with the tiger claw phantom, emitting a loud noise.

Icy-blue light and earth-yellow Demonic Qi splattered everywhere; Ye Xiaoyao was pushed back several zhang by the recoil force, his chest churning with blood, his sword-wielding arm slightly numb.

What strong power!

He looked up and saw the trees in front collapsing as a massive behemoth slowly walked out.

It was a giant tiger nearly three zhang in size!

Its fur was yellow and black, sleek and shiny, and a faint "King" character marking on its forehead glimmered with dark golden light.

Its four limbs were thick like pillars, its sharp claws dug deeply into the ground.

A pair of tiger eyes, like copper bells, were currently burning with raging fire, locked firmly onto Ye Xiaoyao.

Middle Stage Tier 3! Equivalent to a Middle Stage Core Formation Cultivator!

Ye Xiaoyao's heart sank, and he thought, "This is bad."

He had been killing with such excitement that he must have stumbled into this Tiger Yao's territory and slaughtered quite a few of its underlings...

The Tiger Yao opened its bloody maw, white fangs bared, and the Divine Thought voice boomed again, carrying undisguised killing intent and a trace of greed:

"Junior! You have quite a few treasures on you! A mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet you were able to kill so many of my children in a row... You must pay for this blood debt with your life!"

It had no intention of giving Ye Xiaoyao any chance to explain or beg for mercy.

As the words fell, its massive body lunged forward, so fast that it left an afterimage in place, and the real tiger claw, carrying the sharpness to tear through everything, swiped down at his head!

"Run!"

Facing an enraged strike from a Middle Stage Core Formation Cultivator, Ye Xiaoyao had no thoughts of fighting head-on.

Without hesitation, he activated all the remaining half-stack of offensive Talismans in his hand, turning them into a colorful storm of Spiritual Qi that smashed towards the Tiger Yao.

At the same time, he kicked off the ground violently and retreated rapidly.

While retreating, he quickly slapped a high-tier Speed Talisman onto each of his thighs.

The Talismans burned out, and his legs were immediately enveloped in green Spiritual Qi, becoming incredibly light.

Immediately after, he leaped onto the hovering cold frost sword.

Driving his sword-flight speed to the limit, he flew away for his life towards the other direction of the valley without looking back!

The Talisman storm slammed into the Tiger Yao, only causing its charge to falter slightly, leaving a few scorched marks on its fur.

It couldn't hurt its bones and muscles at all, instead infuriating it even more.

"Roar! Want to run?"

The Tiger Yao let out a low, mocking growl and exerted force with its four paws.

Its massive body displayed agility inconsistent with its size, turning into a yellow-black whirlwind and giving chase relentlessly.

It didn't seem in a hurry to take down Ye Xiaoyao immediately.

A small Foundation Establishment Cultivator was like a turtle in a jar in its eyes.

This feeling of a cat catching a mouse, slowly toying with its prey, was something it quite enjoyed.

Thus, a thrilling chase unfolded in this valley.

Ye Xiaoyao pushed his Speed Talismans and sword-flight technique to the limit, his figure weaving left and right through the mountain forest, desperately trying to widen the distance.

The Tiger Yao followed slowly behind, occasionally swiping out a claw-wind to force Ye Xiaoyao into embarrassing evasions, and occasionally intentionally closing the distance to enjoy the sight of its prey fleeing in terror.

The chase lasted for about a quarter of an hour.

The Tiger Yao gradually lost patience; this Foundation Establishment kid's escape skills and wealth were a bit beyond its expectations.

"Game over, little bug!"

The Tiger Yao growled, its earth-yellow Demonic Qi surging, its speed suddenly skyrocketing, instantly closing the distance to less than a hundred zhang!

It raised its front claw, gathering power far more terrifying than before, preparing to smash this annoying "Human Race" junior into meat paste with one swipe.

Ye Xiaoyao felt the destructive aura locking onto him from behind, his back instantly soaked in cold sweat.

The shadow of death loomed over him.

Without hesitation, he reached back to sacrifice his high-tier defensive Magic Treasure, the Purple Light Bowl, to save his life.

Just at this critical moment!

A clear, bright, and righteous female shout, like an arrow piercing through the clouds, shot over from the horizon:

"Audacious Tiger Yao! Stop hurting my Human Race Cultivator—"

"Look at my sword!"